Protesters shout slogans against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during a demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 17. The Turkish military launched an air assault on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq overnight Wednesday, in response to the killing of nine Turkish soldiers in southeastern Turkey.

Wednesday's ambush against the Turkish soldiers was the deadliest attack on the military since a campaign against the Kurdish autonomy movement began in July. That crackdown was prompted by an attack on the Turkish military on July 13, which killed 30.

The PKK refuses to give up violence unless its demands, such as the use of the Kurdish language in public education and an amnesty for militants hiding in northern Iraq, are met by Turkey, according to the Times.

At a meal to break the Ramadan fast on Tuesday following the ambush on the Turkish soldiers, Erdogan warned that "a new period is starting" in the conflict, which has led to more than 30,000 mostly Kurdish deaths since the 1980s, when it began, CNN reports.

Erdogan has tried to improve relations with Turkey's Kurds and has admitted that the government made mistakes in its treatment of the country's largest minority, but recent tensions have negated some of the progress. The main Kurdish party in parliament boycotted the swearing-in for new lawmakers, despite winning a larger number of seats in June's elections, because the government disqualified some of the party's candidates, reports to CNN.

“We have been fighting the PKK since 1984. The military operations are needed, but we have to remember that it is not the only solution,” he said. “One of the goals of the increase in the frequency of attacks is to sabotage the upcoming constitutional reform when Parliament opens for session in October.”

He added that the aim of the PKK is to force the government to resort to violent methods.

“The PKK wants violence and chaos. Terror thrives on violence and confusion,” he said. “We have to find a political solution to the problem. The military solution alone will not solve the PKK problem.”